Igniting and spark-distributing device.



E. n. ALLENSWORTH.

IGNITING AND SPARK DISTRIBUTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-3. 1916.

I 1 213 790 Patented Jan. 23; 1917.

i mun-q" I, I gau gggg ung 5 ,l V IIIIF; +2 n B S T' I mmF I NIT-ED T E ATEN I k V i it rims L O ;?."w45 Eeaa, mums. i I T ND SPaRK-ms'rarerrrmeravioli.

i 1,213,790 v v Specification of Letters Patent, Patented Jan. 2 3, 1917.

a lication filed January 3,1916. Serial No. 69,785.

To. all whom it mag concern." which the'timerand distributor is to be as- Be it known that I, ELms'jD-ALLaNssooiatecl. won'rn,a citizen of the United States, resid- The upper part 9 of the collar is reduced ing atv Waukegan, in the county of Lake and in diametric cross section to providea shoul- 60 "f 5 Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new der 10. Upon the shoulder 10, and around and useful Improvements in I iting. and the reduced portion 9-of the collar 6, is a Spark-Distributing Devices, of which the ring 11, preferably of brass or Babbitt metal following is a specification. 01 similar material, which is loose upon the Y My invention relatesto engine igniting collar 9 andwhich is surrounded byhub 12 55 qand spark distributing devices. for .plural from the lower portion l3of the casing 14, cylinder internal combustion engines, whereso that the casing 14 may be manually os-' in ignition isefi'ected in 'sequentialorder in cillated upon the collar 6 for the purpose of j the various cylinders of" said engine by changing its rotative position with reference sparksroduced in an electric circuit pe- -t0-.the -c1rcui-t breaking cam 15 to .vary the 7 s' 'no'dic'al y interrupted by a mechanical cirsparklead. I i, f cult breakerpositively initiated by the en- Astud 16, which is COIlCeTltl'lCdYltlYthG gine' at'defimte'periods of time and'autoshaft 7,- is provided. onits lower end'with Iiiatic'ally continued by the eflect-of the elecanintegraldisk 18 whereby. it is attached "trio current. f i. to the upper'end 9 ofthefcollar 6, :is'by 75 26 One'ofthe general objects of my invenmeans ofscr'ews 19. The studis threaded, tion is to improve the constructionlandopas at 20,:andv carries a threaded circuit con'- ;,ierationof' devices of this characteryto rentrolling cam 15' which is held in adjusted 'd er the structurecompact and the parts. easy'j'l position by the/check 'nut'; 21'. The -upper assemble andreadily accessible and to end-16 of the stud is reduced somewha't' in 8o cheaper: the costof production. size and carries upon its upperend a .com-

' Another objectand distinctive feature of mutating block of .insulating- ;material;22' my invention is to provide means whereby which is secured in. place on the stud, as'by a spark is. initiated bytheengine and a plu- .means ofa screw 23. N f I rality of sparks are automatically continued removablepart' 1'3y'of the *casing con- 85 thereafter to te made in each cylinder dur sists of a. disk 24 0f insulating material and .f'ing'the, spark-time. thereof, in each sparka surrounding-metal cylinder 25. The cylftime period inpthe'qcyclic operation of the inder 25. overlies. a. rim of the cylindrical 1 distributer, thereby] to produce better igni- 1 portion 26 of'the, lower part l3f'of the casing r tion by causing more rapid pro vagation of andis heldinplace thereonby means of the 90 the flame in the fired charge, an to'increase' vstuds- 27-27 which; pass ;through bayonet the fuel efiiciency;- .joint orifices provided-in the cylinder 25, and Other and further. objects of my invention when slightly 'rotated,.is secured in place'by "will become readily apparent to persons nieans of. the snap latch 28, which then skilled inthe art from a consideration of the .passes. over the end of the screw 29 that is 95 "following description when taken'in conthreadedintothe'. cylindrical portion 26 of junction with the drawings, wherein} the lo\ve1' pp1'ti0n 13.0f the casing.

' Figure 1 is a central vertical section taken f The distributer block" 22, of insulatingmaon line l'-1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse terial, carries 6ne terminal of the high posectiontakene on ine 2.-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. tential'circuit and is rotated directly. by the 100 3 is a transverse sectiQn'taken on line 33 shaft. 7. In the other end of the block is a of Fig. 1. Fig; 4 is a transverse .section spring pressed button 30 that fits loosely in taken on line .H of- Fig. 1..., Fig. '5 is a a metallic, or other electrical conducting detail ofthe primary circuitcontrolling enthimb1e'31, and is" spring pressed by an ungine-operjated lever. w 'derlying open helical spring .32.) A plate 105 A collar 6 is-secured'to themngine driven 33 extends from'the tliimble '31 to the cen- U shaft '1, by any suitable means, a screw8 betral portion of the block 22, under the block ingfjshown forthis purpose; The shaft 7 38. A central terminal screw 35 is screw maybe, for .eaample, the valve operating .t-hreadedlon its outer'end, its larger inner shaft of an interi combustion engine. endf37 is hollow, as at 36, and contains an 1 56 which isfrotatedjni pro er time relation open helical spring. 37 which yieldingly with the power shaft "0. theengine' with presses the block 38-, whichmay he of carbon or other suitable materiahcupon the upper surface of theplate andthuscompletes the electric circuittrbetwee'n either of the terminals 40 through the button 30 to the cen tral terminal 35. The terminal block 38 is in electrical connection with the terminal screw 35, to which a suitable electrical cable or wire (not shown) is to be; connected. This cable leads to the'source of the high potential circuit, as the return conductor for" the other terminals 40 that are intended for connection with the spark plugs of; the respective cylinders.

Spaced around disk 24, at uniform distances apart, are a suitable number of terminal screws 40,-the

number depending upon the numberof cylinders to be included in the engine with which the device is to be associated,-the screw threaded portions of which screws are threaded into the disk 24 and bear heads 41 that are submerged in the insulating material of said disk, so that the outer surfaces of said heads are flush with the inner surface'of said disk. Inthe rotation of the v insulating block 22, by meansof the shaft 7,'and m cyclic unison with the reciprocal tionv of-the pistons of the engine, thespring pressedbutton is brought in..s1fccessive thereby complet turn into vcontact with the heads 41 of the res ective screws, in th eirrgular sequential or er, substantiaill ly/as shown in Fig. 1., g the secondary (electric circuit from the common return wire" which is to be connected to the screw '3'5y through the plate 33, the spring 32 andthiinble31 and the spring pressed button 30 to the respective spark plug terminal screws 40, in their sequential order. c

I The primary circuitsbreakin and controlling apparatus is located in t e lower part 13 of the casing 14 and is initially operated by the engine driven cam 15. The cam 15 may be a substantially rectangular structure for a four cylinder engine, having rounded corners 42 and fiat. parallel oppositesides between the respective corners. An arcuate, cam-operated lever 44 is pivoted to a stud 45, which stud is fixed in the lower part of thecasing 13, as at 46. The lever 44 consists of two plate-like members 47 and 48,. held spaced apart by means of spacing sleeves 49 and rivets50, between which mem-' hers is placed a cam bearing-roller 51-. The roller is journ'aled upon thepin 52, that is fixed at its ends in the respective members 47 and 48. The free ends of the plates of the lever 44 are brought together, as at 53, and it is yieldingly held, at all times with the roller 51 bearing upon the cam 15, by means of a helical spring 54 which is secured to a pin 55 projecting from the casing member 13. The lever 44 is provided with aprojecting end or nose 56 which normall bears upon the end of and restrains the vi rating the insulating cover, or-

lever or armature 57. .The lever or armature 57 consists of a strip of spring metal 58, such as steel, bronze or the like, secured to a projection from the frame 59, by means of the screw 60. It carries upon its outer end animal, or soft'steel armaturefil which overlies the poles 62-62 of an-electro-1nagnet and which is responsive thereto. The clectro-magnet, comprising jpoles'64 and 65,

is composed of a series of magnetically permeable laminae held together by rivets 67 and secured in the casing by screws 68. The

magnet may be provided with a single elec--. tric coil 69, which is shown over the leg 65, or another coil may also be placed over the leg 64, if desired. One magnet coil how-i ever, will be suflicient in some cases for the purpose desired; The armature 61 carries contact point 70, which is movable .with

the' armature and is adapted for electrical association with the relatively stationary contact point 71 secured on the end of the adjustable screw 72. The resilience of the spring plate 58 is sufficient to bring the contacts 7071 together when the armature is eleaseda The screw 72 is threaded in a metal thimble 73, which is secured in the removable insulating plate 74' of the casin The screw 72 is adjustable and is heldyieldingly-cin adjusted position bythe open helical spring 75, whichsurroundsthe shanklofthe screw and has bearing'fliupon th'f thimble 73, The insulating plate 74 is easily re- 'movable,}beii1g'secured to the casing by tongue and groove joint 76 and by the removable screw 78. v

A top or cover plate 7 8 is pivoted to the casing, as at 79,and is adapted to he slidon the pivot thus afforded so as to expose the interior of the lower portion 13, of the casing, for inspection.- The cover is held in closed position by a screw 80 that takes into the casing through a perforation provided in the cover.

Binding posts 81 and 82 are connected to the primary sou-roe of electric current and to a condenser 63, respectively, as shown,

and are insulatedly secured to the lower portion 13 of the casing 14. A wire 83 connects binding post 81 with the coil 69, and

wire 84 connects binding post-82 to the sleeve 73, and thereby to the contact point 71.

Wire 85 connects wire 84 to the coil 69.

l have diagrammatically shown a schomatic arrangement of circuits in which my distributer will produce desirable results, wherein post 81 is connected to battery B by wire (a. 'llhcbattery is connected to the primaryrco'il P by wire 6. Wire 0 connects of a condenser 63. The wire 0 is groui ed bet-ween coil and'the condenser,63, as at G; The other terminal of the condenser is connected to. post 82 by Wire d. The terminals of. the secondary coil S are to be connected the other terminal ofcoil P to one ter ial to the ground and to the. terminal 35 of the When the cam is rotated so that the roller 51 rests upon 'one of the flat sides43, the sprlng- 54 will'pullover the lever 44 and re- 15 lease the armature 61' so that the resilient.

clfect of the spring 58 will produce electrical connection between the contacts 70 and Z1 therebyclosing the; circuit through .the

electric coil 09. thereupon and immediately thereafterat tract the armature cuit between the contact 7 0 and 71 and thereafter the spring and magnet will-continue to operate the armature to produce rapid makeand-break of the circuit during the time that the fiat portion 43 of the cam is traversing the roller 51, or while the lever 44 is re tracted by the spring 54 from its vcontact with the armature when the armature is released, the circuit 'isveryrapidly opened and closed, automatically thereby through the instrumentality of-the -electromagnet, in the manner aforesaid, causing a corresponding number of impulses of current to flow in the primary circuit during the time of the circuit closing period, or during substantially the entire power stroke of. the engine, thereby inducing a corresponding number of impulses of relatively high potential 40 in the secondary circuit and a like number of sparks between the terminals of the respective spark plugs in the cylinders of the engine, during the respective spark-time cyclic periods. By this means a large numher of sparks are produced in each cylinder at each time that a char e is to be ignited and persists until the efi ect of the charge is spent. A prolongation of the spark-time, by the number of. intermittent impulses pro- 5 duced in the primary circuit automatically by the means hereto ore described, operates to produce more certain and positive ignition of the charge, thereby accelerating the.

propagation of flame or hastening the time in which complete combustion will occur,

thus causing a more ellici'ency of the fuel and of the engine. It is, of course, understood that the distributor 22 for the secondary circuit lisg operatcd in harmony with the primary circuitliireaking .scrlbed, while the lower flat e primary circuit controlling cam,

The magnet 64-435 will 61 thus opening the cirarmature produces a make andbr'eak in the:

armature rapid explosive expansum of the charge and hence increasing the The high parts 42, of the cam 15, hold the 1p. primary circuit open, in the manner 'jdeportions 43, of the cam permit the spring 54 to draw the i end 56 of the lever 44 outof the pathof the armature 61 releasing the armature, permit ting the spring blade 58 to close the electric circuit between the contacts and 7l,'tl 1'ere- I by completing the electric circuit.

,- after the electromagnet 6465 automatically *opens and closes the circuit rapidly agreat "1f numberof times and continues to do so dun ing the timethat the projection 56,'frorn' the lever 44 is thus removed from 'the path of the armature 61. The engine-driven cam 15 periodically rei j leases. the electro-magnetically' responsive 'arn' ature, which thereupon'continuesto be; j automatically vibrated by the electro magnet until the armature is again restrained by the cam lever 44. Each vibration of the primary circuit and a chargeand discharge of the condenser with corres ond mg numz ber of current impulses-each 0 which results vin a spark in thesecond'ary circuit at em respective spark plugs. Upon movement of the cam 15, by the vengine, the armature moved positively thereby and its vibration function stopped. Thus the engine causes initiation of the automatically produced current impulses and after a desired interval of time, positively prevents theirpcontinuance.

While I have herein shown a single em bodiment of my inventionfor the purpose of clear disclosure, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the specific-forrn and disposition of the parts within the scope of the appended claims,

Having described my invention, what I claim is:-'- v 1. An ignition timer and spark distributorcomprising an electromagnet'; a.y1e ld1n g adapted to normally close circuit through said electromagnet; means includ- 11o ing a rotary cam-to restrain th'e ;-arma ture and hold it in open circuit POSltlOIl and a spring opposing said means-for'releasmg said armature to permit the'electromagnet to vibrate the armature. r

2. An ignition timer and spark-distributer' 1 comprising an elcctromagnet;-a stationary" Contact; a yielding armature; a Contact controlled uby said :armature :n-ormally con-' nected to the, stationary. contact; means,=-1neluding a rotary cam for disconnecting said; contact and aspring opposingsaidmeansito separate it from and armature and perm1t-' ting the electromagnet to vibrate the 'armacarried y the armature c'ofiperating with ioo.

the stationary contact to close the circuit through said electromagnet; means, including a cam to restrain thearmature and a spring'opposing said means to release the armature and permit the electro-magnet to' vibrate the armature when. the cam moved. t An ignition timer and spark dlstrlbuter comprising an electromagnet; a stationary contact; a yielding armature responsive to saidmagnet when unrestrained; a contact carried by the armature cooperating-With the stationary contact to close the circuit through said olectromagnet; a spring arranged to permit the armature to close said contact and means including a rotary cam operable against the influence of said spring .to restrain said armature and stop the electromagnct from vibrating the armature.

5. An 1 gmtion timer and spark distrlbuter comprising an electromagnet; an: armature therefor adapted to normally "close circuit through said electromagnet; means, including arotary cam for positively holding the armature in open circuit' position and a spring for releasing the armature when the cam is moved thereby permitting the electro magnet to vibrate the armature.

6. An ignition timer'and spark distributer comprising an electromagnet; an armature ture whenjthe cam is moved.

therefor adapted to normally close circuit through'said electromagnet; a lever adapted when moved by a cam to restrain the armature; a cam "for moving said lever and a. sprlng tiojrhove the lever to release the arma- 7. In an ignition tuner, and spark dis-g tributer for an internal combustion engine, the combination of 'a' circuit breaker comprising an armature to be automatically vibrated to'make and break an-electric circuit; an electromagnet in said circuitjfor producingthe vibrations of saidvarniaturej a lever for restraining said annature,-fto

hold said circuit open; a spring to moi esaid lever to release the armature to permitit to close and open said circuit when not opposed by said lever and a part operable hythe engine to move said lever in an opposite direction against the efforts ofsa d spring to penmt-s'md electromagnet to vibrate j-the armature.

In testimonj whereof I hereunto s t my hand in the presence 'oftwo subscribingwitnesses.

n the presence of. BENJAMIN PARMALEE, BESSIE ALLENSWORTH.

LLIS n. ALLENSWORTH: 

